A recent case study reported in the British Medical Journal and subsequently made into an episode of the BBC documentary series, “The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs,” describes how a 24-year-old mother eliminated her medications for major depressive disorder and anxiety over a period of four months as she began a program of weekly swimming in cold water. But could cold water swimming really help treat depression?

“It’s one thing to inspire all these little girls by winning a bunch of medals. That’s easy. But it’s another thing entirely to be an inspiration when things aren’t exactly going your way.”

- Missy Franklin,Relentless Spirit: The Unconventional Raising of a Champion

Few people describe winning a bunch of medals, especially gold medals, as Missy did at the 2012 London Olympics, as “easy.” It’s difficult to win a race at any meet, let alone in the most competitive swim meet in the world. Despite the difficulty and the rarity of winning or setting a record, the swimming world and American culture as a whole glorify winning, setting records, making PR’s, sustaining dominance. A definition of success based on fast times and victories can be seductive but also dangerous to a swimmer’s well-being, as Isabelle Robuck explains in “Defining Success Beyond Fast Times and Medals Just Might Save Your Swimming Career (and Life)”.

SwimSwam interviews an emotional Missy Franklin still determined and focused on Tokyo 2020!

As a 5-time Olympic gold medalist who has broken multiple world records during her swimming career, Missy Franklin has had to face the pressure and expectations that go along with being one of the sport's swimming superstars. It was also her first time swimming in a U.S. meet since 2016. She trained and swam hard but finished at a disappointing 17th and 19th place in the 100 (55.33) and 200 free (1:59.25). In an interview after her races, Missy showed she was not going to let this performance deter her from higher aspirations and displayed a warrior's spirit and an inspiring level of professionalism even through a sometimes shaky voice.

The 2018 U.S. National Championships begin this Wednesday, July 25th! Whether you are rooting for Missy Franklin, Katie Ledecky, or your local hero, the best of the best are gearing up to leave one another in their wake in the biggest U.S. meet of the year! With some help from SwimSwam.com we've got you covered on where to go to tune in!

2018 brings a new product option to our swim program: At Your Pool lessons are now available in Florida! You read that right...the same great Swimtastic Swim School program and quality staff experience at YOUR pool.

As we kick off the at your pool private lessons program we know there are some questions that come to mind.

I’ve swam throughout my childhood, learning how to float in the lake when I was young, taking lessons until I was 8, and then transitioning to swim team after that. When I turned 16, I started teaching lessons, and now I’m 18 and still teaching lessons. Being a swim teacher is the best job that I never knew I wanted until I started!

Sometimes it's hard to imagine the life of a swimming athlete from the outside. What does a gym at 5 AM really look like anyway? But we all have something that links us to Olympic swimmers and that something is we all hate jumping in cold pools!